FASHION FIRST…

3rd Apr

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Daily Mail fashion editor Natalie Theo has cruelly slated the Junya Watanabe blue checked cardigan worn by Michelle Obama on her visit to a British girls’ school On Thursday.

Please let’s not start lambasting the new First Lady for her style. This is the first time any First Lady has, in my opinion, since Jackie O, ever really looked the part.

Compare her style to that of her predecessor Laura Bush. My granny exudes more style than George W’s missus and she’s 75 – and from Newcastle! Why did Laura insist on wearing those dreary suits and the kind of dated hairstyle that’s only ever seen on the over-50s women of middle America?

And what about Michelle’s current English counterpart? Poor old Sarah Brown. Although I’m sure a genuinely lovely girl, looks so sad and frumpy in her head mistress-style suits and sloaney accessories.

And then look at Mrs Obama. Many of her outfits have been covered by the press – some by current designers like Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo and Azzedine Alaia to name but a few. In particular I loved the elegant Michael Kors black chiffon dress which she wore to the inauguration in January.

But rather than focus on Michelle’s outfits, which every fashion editor seems to be doing at the moment, I would like to ask the question – why is it so important for a female in a powerful position to look good?

I think the answer is simple. Clothes, make-up, shoes, handbags and jewellery – the love of all these pretty things is not what makes us important – but it is what exudes our “femaleness” to the world. (sorry Germaine)

It’s about time we had a real woman in a position of power. A nice one – one like Michelle who doesn’t act like a scary ball-breaker.

Why do we feel we have to act like men to make it into positions of power? Look at Margaret Thatcher. She was ruthless and cold in her outlook as well as her dress sense – but she got her comeuppance.

And I watched the Apprentice on Wednesday. The girls on that show are so keen to prove how hard-nosed they are – business women on a ruthless mission to prove they can get to the top - and f**k anyone who gets in their way. But like Ice Queen Thatcher, they always get their comeuppance – and make idiots out of themselves on national television which is fun to watch.

But my point is – is it not our intrinsic soft and gentle nature that has always been our secret weapon? And why shouldn’t we use fashion to accentuate everything which makes us female?

At her talk to the girls at the school yesterday Michelle Obama said:“I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity.”

Michelle exudes quiet strength and dignity - and her smooth and womanly style heightens that and, in my opinion, makes her an extremely powerful weapon for America.

Written by Harriet